Wrist straps are frequently used for dissipation of accumulated static charges from personnel during handling of static-sensitive electronic components and alike. In critical environments to assure that operators wear wrist straps properly, wrist strap monitors are often utilized. Some examples of such monitors can be found at the following links:
http://www.credencetech.com/WS_Aware/WS_Aware.pdf
http://www.novxcorp.com/series—400.htm.
Wrist strap monitors utilize jacks for connecting wrist straps either on the monitor itself or on a remote terminal, such as in 3M's Replacement Remote Input Jack 732 and others. One problem with the jacks is that they wear out and fail after a certain length of time. This problem especially affects 3.5 mm dual wriststrap jacks, such as 3M's Dual Conductor Wrist Band model 4720.
The replacement of the jack involves either replacing the entire terminal, repairing the terminal, or repairing the monitor itself if the jacks are installed inside the monitor. The replacement of the entire terminal is an expensive endeavor while repairing the monitor or the jacks is a little less expensive but is labor-intensive and reduces the overall reliability of the device. The biggest problem is the soldering and unsoldering of the jack assembly that requires special tools and skills and weakens the printed circuit board on which the jacks are attached so that the printed circuit board becomes unusable after replacement of the jacks by soldering.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved connector arrangement for a wriststrap monitor and it is to this end that the present invention is directed.